By REBECCA MUSHOTA
THE Ministry of Health has said Corona virus (COVID-19) has stretched the health sector in Zambia like never before. Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Kakulubelwa Mulalelo said the Zambian health sector like all other health  sectors in the world, was stretched like never before. She said this yesterday at the routine COVID-19 briefing in Lusaka.
“COVID-19 has stretched the healthcare system to the limit. Not just in Zambia but everywhere else,” Ms Mulalelo said. She said hundreds of health workers were working away from their usual posts and communities in order to undertake COVID-19 assignments in the community like testing and contact tracing as well as risk
assessment.
Ms Mulalelo said other health workers were working at their usual assignments and covering for their colleagues who have been assigned to COVID-19 work in the community or at the hospital.
She said the Ministry of Health was grateful to the health workers in Zambia saying that their efforts have prevented more cases of COVID-19.
Ms Mulalelo said health workers both on the frontline in the fight against COVID and those that were working on other medical assignments were the backbone of the health response to COVID-19.
She also said the Ministry of Health was grateful to other public health workers and environmental health workers.
And Ms Mulalelo led people in the briefing in observing a moment of silence for Dr Abigail Mulenga, 23, of Kabwe General Hospital, who died on Monday night in Lusaka and was buried yesterday. She said it was imperative to observe a moment of silence for the health worker at the briefing even if it was established that she did
not die from COVID-19.
And Ms Mulalelo said in the previous 24 hours, Zambia recorded 225 new cases from 1,400 tests conducted.
The 225 cases were from 13 districts from different provinces bringing the cumulative number to 11,601 COVID-19 cases. Ms Mulalelo said 80 people were in admission countrywide with 36 people on oxygen therapy.
She said 147 people were discharged in the previous 24 hours bringing the total number of recoveries to 10,840.
The number of deaths remains 282 with 91 caused by COVID-19 and 191 COVID related.